Portray \Por*tray"\, v. t. [Written also pourtray.] [imp. & p.
p. portrayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Portraying.] [OE.
pourtraien, OF. portraire, pourtraire, F. portraire, fr. L.
protrahere, protractum, to draw or drag forth; pro forward,
forth + trahere to draw. See Trace, v. t., and cf.
Protract.]
1. To paint or draw the likeness of; as, to portray a king on
horseback.
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Take a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray
upon it the city, even Jerusalem. --Ezek. iv. 1.
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2. Hence, figuratively, to describe in words.
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3. To adorn with pictures. [R.]
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Spear and helmets thronged, and shields
Various with boastful arguments potrayed. --Milton.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
portray
v 1: portray in words; "The book portrays the actor as a selfish
person"
2: make a portrait of; "Goya wanted to portray his mistress,
the Duchess of Alba" [syn: depict, limn]
3: assume or act the character of; "She impersonates Madonna";
"The actor portrays an elderly, lonely man" [syn: impersonate]
4: represent in a painting, drawing, sculpture, or verbally;
"The father is portrayed as a good-looking man in this
painting" [syn: present]
WordNet (r) 2.0
74 Moby Thesaurus words for "portray":
act a part, act out, bring to life, cartoon, catch a likeness,
chalk, character, characterize, charcoal, chart, color, copy,
crayon, create a role, crosshatch, dash off, daub, delineate,
depict, describe, design, diagram, doodle, draft, draw, duplicate,
enact, evoke, express, give words to, hatch, hit off, image,
impersonate, interpret, limn, map, notate, outline, paint,
paint a picture, pencil, personate, photograph, picture, picturize,
play a part, play a role, play opposite, pose as, print, register,
render, represent, reproduce, rub, schematize, scratch, scumble,
set forth, shade, show, sketch, stencil, support, sustain a part,
symbolize, take a part, take a rubbing, tint, trace, trace out,
trace over, write
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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